Smyrna times., 1887-11-16

and expiring COnfederacy. GordoT.'s fol.
lowers were left in our trenches, the most
OF them, and he himself was borne back
to Lees lines wounded. Grady is nbOut
rs near being mOnOmaniac on the sub
tect Of that last assault of Lee. made bv
Gordon, as it is possible for level headed
man to be on subject where his heart is
interested. This able Southern leader is
only about 80, while his friend Gordon is
over JO. Grady was lad of 10 in 1868.
and his father fought with Gordon: he
fought long and well in this forlorn
struggle at Fort Steadman, and he fell
there, but his fate could never he clearly
tol by the Southern survivors.
After Gordon mad been summoned on
urgent business from our interview, Editor
Grady pressed me to continue with the
details as seen from the northern side. /
dld so, and 1t transpired that his interest
turned upon strange incident, and the
one which led up to the exclamation from
MS bps with which this story opens, Said
l; "One OF your men deserves a monu-
ment for bravery in that action, and 1
would subscribe for it as a memento to
| American valOr. He was the bravest war
FLOR on either side whom | saw in battle
during the whole war, and he fell while
riding hecoically ut Fort Haskelrs guns. ="
ibid he ride a white hOrse?" uueried
my listener, and with such deep attention
that l naturally dropped into details
Grady knew the plan of the battle and the
ground we'll Gordon in the darkness had
made breach half mile wide in our
front line, and daylight found his men in
our trenches hedged about by our brist-
ing forts and batteries on each side of the
breach and our second line confronting
them. They had battled to get in. and
would need to battle fiercely to remain or
even TO get back to their own lines. Forts
5teadman and Haskell had been garri-
soned all winter by my comrades of the
Fourteenth New York artillery. Fort
Steadman was now occupied by GOrdOn's
men, and lOO or so of us in Haskell had
three riiled guns and few score of Inus-
ketS playing upon the intruders. The
pathway back for GOrdOn's scattered men
was through Fort Steadman and across n
ridge of land for few yards wide and
fairly exposed to our fire. Witha knowI-
edge of these facts in the mind of nv com
panlon took up the events of the last act
In that tragic fight
when GOrdOn's soldiers thwarted IN
all Sides Logan to rally in Fort Steadman
AMI straggle back over the ridge our chief
artlllerlst, Maj. WOerner, of the Third
New Jersey battery, an expert gunner.
TOOK charge OF the gun in our right for
w"ri ;Agle, position which commanded
that ridge. He began to pour schrapneI
ana grape into the retreating ranks. and
was doing terrible slaughter, when some
sharpshOOUers posted in our front began to
pepper the angle very lively. Woerner
stood to the gun nObly and called for a
platoon OF riiemen to stand bv him and
return the fire on the sharpshooters. I !
was one of the riflemen to respond. and |
after a few shots had been given Woerner |
cried out: "ShOOt the man on the white |
horse" A rider on a white horse had |
been remarked during the fight moving |
back and forth between Lees lines and |
Gordon's men in the breach. He had led a |
charmed life and escaped hundreds of /
shots aimed at his conspicuous figure |
The vehement call of WOerner was caused
by new phase Of his fearless action. He
was raliylng the retreating men right I'M
uer Noerner's range and was preparing to
make one more charge to silence this
piece and save the thousands whose
lives were at our mercy. l sprang to the
angle and drew bead on the bold rider.
Then appeared sight such as Iimplore the
fates never to reveal TO me again Those
beaten and discounted men. the sound
and the stricken alike, were strugplin0
along one narrow pathway, where bullets
Dalls ana shells poured into the helpless
mass with murderOUs effect There. at
tne end OF my rifle, it seemed, were fnvri-
ndS or human legs, arms and bodies
writing like tangled swarm of worms
tmpelled by the wild frenzy of despair at
the doom before them-wOunds. or death.
or prison. In the midst of it all there
lOomed up On my vision this rider never
hinehing; not even nOdding when the
shell tore along, cutting swaths all around
him. My head swan. Shoot, shoot himp
was called out again and again. Once.
twice, three times covered him, but NV
nerves refused to obey, for l couldn't pull
the trigger fired at random at the old
lines sparing the hero and his helpless
comrades. He is too brave to die So I
declared"
Grady followed my narrative with
breathless interest, but attributed 10 to
the natural pride of a sOutherner over the
records of chivalric deeds
The intrepid rider passed on, followed |
by band of about 300, who had rallied
courage to die for the salvation Of their
fellows. Three times that morning we
had repulsed charges on Haskell. and the
ground all around it was strewn with the
bodies OF brave assailants. The leader
look these men back out Of range Of
WOerner, formed three platOOns or com
panies, and came on, moving against the
center Of the fort where he had no p11n at
work. WOerner kept pounding away at
The slope, and the rihemen again rallied ,
10 meet this new assault. Other batteries ]
ana troops back on our second line out /
5lde were now in position to fire on the I
1ank OF this storming column, and every I
fOa OF advance which they made toward
Iuf lofI cost them some victims. A I
'aVihe divides the ground along which /
'hey were advancing, and after crossing 1
hat the bold leader put spurs and made
gallant dash toward the murderous \
angle gun. Scores Of the men fell under {
'pF Haskell shots, and some unerrino c
narKsman, with heart less tender than n
nine, put bullet through the hero's
brain. He struggled as he fell. his
wounded horse plunging wildly, and he
lied with his face toward us and his
word arm Outstretched and pointing To 4
nat fatal gun which he was risking ali c
% silence 4" v
Grady had arisen and was pacing the n
ioor with much emotion. When I stopped U
ie seemed anxious for further details
we gathered up your dead when It e
vas an over and buried some. returning v
'thers for burial within Lees lines. and b
lmong them this dead major Of the white j.
lOrse. z
How do you know he was a maiorg, II
30 his men called him. We met the Q
JonLederates half way, bearing their dead u
Q them. When this body was shown To L
hem, several cried out, oh, this is our L
MAORI Then they mourned over him Il
ma praised him. They were Georgians. {" y
! olIsay was now fully convinced Of the y
IDENTIFY OF this hero, and he had spent an !,
he intervening years since the war to Y
lear up the mystery which my story had =
made plain. His interest in GordOn's <
Unique battle is absorbing and pathetic, x
or ms father was major and q follower .
= Sorden. In this fight Mai Grady was Y
Ae prnYest Of the brave but all that y
'ould be learned from his surviving com j
aaes was that he had started from Fort y
'teadman q attempt to silence that gun 4
u Fort Haskell which controlled their Y
neager avenue Of retreat IN the con- y
usion Of that hour all sieht Of him had =